


A Dog Named Ann

by donnarafiki



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Crying, Dogs, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Suicidal Thoughts, Luna Lovegood is a Good Friend, M/M, impulsive Harry Potter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-09
Updated: 2019-10-09
Packaged: 2020-11-28 11:46:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20966036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/donnarafiki/pseuds/donnarafiki
Summary: “You bought me a dog.”“I did.”“Because you thought I looked sad.”“Yes.”“That’s mad, Potter.” A tiny smile tugged at his lips. “I’d even call itbarking mad.”





	A Dog Named Ann

**Author's Note:**

  * For [midsummerdancer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/midsummerdancer/gifts).

> I've been very rusty and busy lately so I hope this is an enjoyable fic. Gifted to the amazing Saphira as a super late bday present and bc I love her and she's amazing<3
> 
> Biggest thanks to April for the beta!

The door to the dormitory opened and closed softly. Draco hoped he’d closed his curtains properly, but didn’t have the energy to check. Besides, the way he was lying now, pillow clutched to his chest while hiding under a mountain of blankets, was the closest to comfortable he’d been in weeks. 

He didn’t know if his eyes burned due to exhaustion or tears, he just knew that if he closed them the nightmares would come back. When he’d been a kid, he crawled into bed with his mum after a bad dream if his father was away. Sadly, he had most nightmares when the man was there, so usually he forced himself to get through it on his own. 

He’d only ever allowed himself to show and feel weakness in front of a woman. Two to be precise, his mother and Pansy. But his mother was in a clinic somewhere in France and Pansy had fled the divorce of her parents by joining Blaise in Tanzania. Or Kenya, he hadn’t bothered to learn. It didn’t matter anyway. He wasn’t allowed to leave the country for at least fifteen years. 

He would only be allowed to make his own decisions when he was thirty three. End of the war or not, he remained trapped and alone and terrified of anyone finding out about how he felt. Instead of Voldemort digging through his brain, it would be a student seeing he felt sorry for himself, even though he’d lost all rights to that after fighting on the wrong side of the war. 

They would crucify him. 

“Draco?” His bed dipped, but not with the weight of a human. “I-, I-, well, eh, please don’t get mad at me. Hermione told me I was being impulsive, but I just can’t stand seeing you so sad all on your own. You deserve a good friend at your side just as much as everyone else. And I know I’m rubbish at talking to you because I keep saying the wrong things so I brought you this. I hope you like her.”

Intrigued, Draco slowly emerged from his hiding place. His eyes were still red from tears, but he couldn’t listen to Harry’s whole speech and then  _ not  _ look. 

His eyes widened as soon as he saw her. “A dog?”

“Her name’s Ann. She’s a golden retriever, around eight years old. Ron thought I would like a muggle pet after… after Hedwig, so he took me to a shelter. And I couldn’t leave her there knowing she’s perfect for you.”

Draco hardly heard Harry’s rambling, all his attention consumed by the dog on his bed. For something claiming to be gold she was very white. Her eyes were dark though, with a curious but wary gaze. Draco let her sniff his palm. Ann licked it. 

“Hello, Ann.” Draco carefully scratched the dog’s chin. “Did this rambling idiot adopt you in my name, ey? Because you looked sad and so did I?”

He shot a sideways glance at a sputtering Harry, confirming his suspicion. 

Ann saw a window of opportunity and promptly started licking the salt off Draco’s cheeks. 

Harry let out a small chuckle. “I think she likes you.”

“I hate you.” Draco tried to glare at Harry, but it was difficult because the idiot had bought him a  _ dog _ because he didn’t want Draco to be  _ sad _ and now Draco had  _ feelings _ , dammit. A tear sprang from his eye and was soon licked up by a large, wet tongue. He sniffed. “Thank you.”

“You-, you like her?” Harry’s voice sounded beyond baffled. “You’re not mad?”

“You’re the mad one, Potter.” Draco shot the man a sideways glance. “We’re not even friends and you bought me a  _ dog _ .”

Harry clearly didn’t know how to respond to that, and instead of replying, he opted for staring at his feet. The dog now seemed torn between giving her attention to Harry or Draco. She eventually settled on sitting on Draco’s lap while nuzzling at Harry’s side. 

“She really doesn’t like people being sad,” Draco whispered, a thought that accidentally voiced itself out loud. He looked up at Harry and their eyes met. It felt weird, being caught in a vulnerable moment by his ex nemesis who kept insisting on being kind to him. He didn’t know if it didn’t feel natural because of their history or because of his self-esteem issues. Probably both.

“Me neither.” In an unexpected act of bravery Harry took hold of his hand. “I just…. It feels wrong. Seeing you so… I don’t know, it’s just, I know what it’s like. To feel alone, like you have to hide everything because showing emotions will only get you punished. I  _ hate _ having to see you go through that. Maybe it’s selfish, maybe I shouldn’t stick my nose in your business, but I had to try. You have to know someone cares.  _ I _ care.”

Draco swallowed, his throat thick with emotions. A strange smile tugged at his lips. “I’ve never met anyone less selfish than you, Harry. I think you just like me.”

Despite his remark being a joke, Harry blushed and scratched the back of his head with his free hand. The other was still holding Draco. “I-, yeah. Maybe I do. Hermione said so, anyway.”

Draco let out a nervous laugh, at a complete loss for what to do with this unexpected information. “Where would you be without Granger?”

“Dead.” Harry clearly didn’t have to think about his reply. “But a lot of people have saved my life at some point.”

“Even me.”

“ _ Especially _ you.” Harry looked away again, directing his gaze at the dog in between them. “You make me feel normal. That’s the best kind of saving anyone’s done for me in a long time.”

Ann, deeming Harry cheered up enough, returned to her task of licking the salt off Draco’s face. It should be disgusting, but somehow Draco couldn’t get himself to think about it like that. He hadn’t been treated with so much friendliness in a very long time. 

“If I got a dog from everyone who’s feet I don’t lick I could start a business,” Draco noted after pushing Ann away from his face. He liked the dog, but he wasn’t about to french her. “Quite a lucrative one too.”

Harry shoved him. “You’re an arse.”

“And yet you bought me a dog.”

“And yet I bought you a dog,” Harry repeated, letting out a big sigh. “Just don’t-, try not to-, or like, hug her when you’re sad, you know? Or-, or-, or join us for a Hogsmeade weekend. I’d love for someone to finally beat Ron at chess. He’s getting insufferable with all the wins behind his name.”

“He’s a Weasley, of course he’s insufferable.”  _ Ouch _ , not the right thing to say, Draco realised right away as anger flashed over Harry’s face and he abruptly let go of his hand. He hadn’t even meant it like that. Quite the opposite in fact, and now telling the truth was probably the only way to stop Harry being mad at him. For some reason Draco couldn’t stand the thought of the only friendly person in his dorm being mad at him. The war had worn him out. 

“Bloody poor and on the bottom of society and they still manage to shove their happiness in everybody’s face.” It sounded more bitter than he intended. Somehow over the years he’d forgotten that he didn’t hate the Weasley’s because they were blood traitors or piss poor, but because they were a painful reminder of how cold and distant his own family was. He  _ couldn’t  _ like them, because it meant facing how lonely he felt in the large, cold halls of the Manor. “Like that’s how families are supposed to be.”

“I think they are.”

“Say that to my father, Potter. Or don’t. He won’t listen anyway.” Draco started playing with Ann’s floppy ears, trying to distract himself from the tears threatening to spill over. He knew he had no right to feel jealous. No one had a perfect childhood, and his parents had loved him in their own way. At least he  _ had _ parents. 

This time when his bed dipped, it was with a very human weight. One that settled behind him and rested a chin on his shoulder. “Is this okay?”

Draco nodded, and in response Harry snaked his arms around his waist. “There’s no measure for unhappiness, you know? Just because someone else had it worse doesn’t mean you don’t deserve better.”

Draco raised an eyebrow. “Luna?”

“Yes of course it was Luna. I haven’t suddenly become emotionally mature in the last five seconds.” Harry shook his head before burying his face back into Draco’s neck. It felt rather nice, if a bit ticklish and very,  _ very _ confusing. Of course Harry had been nice to him before, but this felt like way more than he deserved. “She wants you to be happy too, you know?”

“I think Luna wants everyone to be happy.” Draco smiled fondly as he thought of her. Luna had flooed over to the Manor to teach him how to make flower crowns. He suspected she knew how dark his thoughts had been at the time, how close he’d been to overdosing just to be done with it. Or maybe she too, knew what it was like to be so lonely it felt like there was no light at the end of the tunnel. “She’s weirdly kind like that.”

“You wouldn’t say that if you saw how glad she was when I said I wanted to help you. She worries about you, Draco. You’re her friend.” Harry’s arms tightened around him. “And don’t forget you saved her too.” 

Draco tried to put all his focus on Ann and her stupid floppy ears once again, trying to keep his eyes dry. It didn’t have much effect. “Stop being so bloody nice to me, Potter.”

“No,” came the resolute reply from behind. “I don’t want to. I want you to feel better so we can bicker and fight again because you still think my hair is a disaster and I still think you’re a posh git and I need  _ something _ constant in my life so I don’t go mad.”

“I think it’s several years too late for that, Potter.” Draco twisted between Harry’s legs so he could look the man in the eye. “You bought me a dog.”

“I did.”

“Because you thought I looked sad.”

“Yes.”

“That’s mad, Potter.” A tiny smile tugged at his lips. “I’d even call it  _ barking _ mad.”

Harry looked at him for a full two seconds before he burst out laughing. Draco followed suit. 

“Stop judging me,” Harry wheezed, lightly shoving Draco. “I have poor impulse control okay? Leave me alone.”

“Like hell I will,” Draco snickered. “You’ll be hearing this for the rest of your life. I’ll never let you forget.  _ Harry Potter, the boy who has no bloody impulse control _ .”

“Stop it!” Harry yelled in between bouts of laughter. The idiot then had the bloody  _ nerve _ to pinch Draco’s side, which soon deteriorated into a full blown tickle fight, not helped by an enthusiastically barking Ann. They were both panting and exhausted by the time the last pinch was handed out. 

“I hate you.” Harry shoved him to accentuate his statement. 

Draco grinned. “Then why did you buy me a dog?”

Harry just groaned at that, and buried his face in the crook of Draco’s neck once more. A tail-wagging Ann lay down on top of Harry for good measure, trapping Draco in his bed for good it seemed. 

It was quiet for a very long time then, until Draco mustered the courage to whisper, “Thank you.”

“I just don’t want you to be sad.” Harry held him a little tighter. Then he mumbled something else. “I think I might like you.”

_ Glad someone does _ , was Draco’s first thought, but he knew talking shit about himself wouldn’t get him anywhere. “I might not loathe you either.”

“Not loathe me?” Harry lifted his head, a grin climbing onto his face now that his confession had been well received. “Those are some big words, mister ice prince.”

“The dog did most of the work,” Draco huffed, though he knew the blush on his face betrayed him. “Don’t flatter yourself, Potter.”

“I would never.” Harry nestled his big stupid grin back into Draco’s neck. The infuriating git seemed to be made for the spot. “That’s your job.”

Draco rolled his eyes, but didn’t protest. There were worse things in the world than paying Harry Potter a backhanded compliment or two. Especially when he actually meant them. 

“Hey Draco?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you still sad?”

Draco sniffed. “No.”

“Good.” Draco could feel Harry’s smile against his skin. Maybe it wasn’t the worst thing to show weakness in front of a boy. Especially this specific boy. It could even be his best option yet.


End file.
